THE three Hyndburn firefighters at the centre of a misconduct hearing after a row with a former Mayoress have been given a "slap on the wrist’’ by their bosses.

A row broke out between the trio and County Councillor Dorothy Westell after they refused to pose with her in a fire safety photograph.

The councillor felt offended by comments made to her and complained to fire chiefs.

Councillor Westell, who is County Hall’s Champion for Older People and a member of Lancashire Fire Authority, said: "I am really pleased that this whole thing is over, both from my point of view and from theirs. This whole situation has caused me a lot of distress and upset.

"I do a lot of work with the fire service and will continue to do so.

"I will be visiting Hyndburn Fire Station soon to mend relations with the officers, which I am sure have not been affected."

Steve Harman, Lanca-shire secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, explained that it was not mandatory for a fireman to pose for any publicity shot.

He said: "The misconduct hearing against all three firefighters has been resolved at a low level to everyone’s satisfaction. To be honest, the whole thing was a big misunderstanding.

"The councillor involv-ed was just trying to help the fire service with a safety check initiative aimed at the older generation and information had not been sufficiently passed on to the officers involved."

Hyndburn Council leader, Councillor Peter Britcliffe, said: "I am really pleased that this case has been sorted and nobody has lost their jobs. This disciplinary hearing must have cost an awful lot of money and in my opinion County Councillor Westell should not have used the fire service to promote her campaign for next year’s elections."

A Fire Service spokes-man confirmed the disciplinary process had been carried out, saying: "We are glad that there has now been closure on the incident in question."